The santoku is kinda like a western chef's knife.All purpose slicing, dicing and mincing.

The way I figure it is theknife companies pushed them ontothe TV cooking shows to drumup some sales. Not everyone in Americaalreadyhad one (or two) and when you seeyour fave celeb cook using one you get ahankerin to get one for the collection.

Plus they look a lot less scary than aneight or ten inch chef's knife.

Next big thing I see them pushingis the Nakiri, which I've been usingfor twenty years or so.

-YB

I looked at those knives at Sam's and had them in the cart to get but changed my mind for only the boning knives for right now. With the price on those may have to pick up the rest of the set until I can start getting some of the Forshner knives

We have a complete set of Calphalon knives. They were recommended to us when we decided to buy a good knife set 5 or 6 years ago. They're OK but I still prefer my hodge-podge of inexpensive knives. I have a favorite paring knife that stores in it's own sharpener, an old boning knife, an old butcher knife, and a mixed bag of steak knives. I still use my cheapie Hamilton Beach electric knife that dates to my bachelor days. My favorite knife is an Appalachian Bow Knife that we bought at a craft show 6 or 7 years ago. I can slice just about anything paper thin with it.

I think we had one of those paring knives that came in their own sharpener, I liked it a lot.

We have a complete set of Calphalon knives. They were recommended to us when we decided to buy a good knife set 5 or 6 years ago. They're OK but I still prefer my hodge-podge of inexpensive knives. I have a favorite paring knife that stores in it's own sharpener, an old boning knife, an old butcher knife, and a mixed bag of steak knives. I still use my cheapie Hamilton Beach electric knife that dates to my bachelor days. My favorite knife is an Appalachian Bow Knife that we bought at a craft show 6 or 7 years ago. I can slice just about anything paper thin with it.

I think we had one of those paring knives that came in their own sharpener, I liked it a lot.

That's a Wiltshire Stay-Sharp knife. I have 4 of these in different sizes in the kitchen and they get a ton of use. They were given to me when my cousin the foodie upgraded to a $600 set of Henckels. I'd love to find some new sharpening cartridges for these, though, as they aren't always available.

To round out the set I have 3 carbon-steel santoku knives in different lengths. They cost me $8 - $10 apiece at a local department store and they've lasted 7 years now. These are my absolute favorite knives to use in the kitchen and I sharpen them on micro-fine 3M abrasive in my workshop. (And yes - these ones are sharp enough to shave with.)

I'm with Cactus1 here - a collection of inexpensive knives works just fine by me. Honestly, I've never felt that I needed an expensive knife set because I get such excellent results from the ones I have.

If an expensive set of knives works for you, then that's OK too. I've found that for myself pricier isn't always better, and sometimes it's the operator, not the tool.

It's the same way with my new hobby: shooting airguns. I started shooting again a few months ago and I'm now the top shot at the shooting range I go to, and that's with a $150 basic air rifle compared to guys that have $300-$1500 models. Now I used to be a shooting and archery instructor a couple of decades ago, but that's only part of the reason I shoot better than the other guys. Sometimes skill can count as much as the equipment.

And the pests in my neighborhood have all mysteriously disappeared, too.

Unlike propane, you'll never wake up scorched and naked in another county because you mishandled a bag of briquettes.

I hung up a target from one of my best shoots, along with the words "Trespassing? Think again.". Since then the prowlers haven't come around - and we have a number in our area too. Better deterrent than the little yappy mutt next door, in fact.

Unlike propane, you'll never wake up scorched and naked in another county because you mishandled a bag of briquettes.

I hung up a target from one of my best shoots, along with the words "Trespassing? Think again.". Since then the prowlers haven't come around - and we have a number in our area too. Better deterrent than the little yappy mutt next door, in fact.

I think the best sign I have seen said "Warning, trespassers will be shot...Survivors will be shot again" a public service announcement from Smith & Wesson.

CG - I've probably used that paring knife a thousand times and never paid attention to the name on the sharpener. It is a Wiltshire. Guess that goes to show how observant I am. Didn't know they made replacement sharpening cartridges for it either. Mine still stays sharp.Interesting one is the Appalachian Bow Knife. High carbon steel band - think I was told they use the same blade in bakery commercial slicers. Guy said under normal use we'd never dull the blade in our lifetime but if we did we could send it in to have the blade replaced. I have the paperwork around somewhere for it. Wonder if the guy I bought it from would still be around if I ever do need to replace the blade.

CG - I've probably used that paring knife a thousand times and never paid attention to the name on the sharpener. It is a Wiltshire. Guess that goes to show how observant I am. Didn't know they made replacement sharpening cartridges for it either. Mine still stays sharp.Interesting one is the Appalachian Bow Knife. High carbon steel band - think I was told they use the same blade in bakery commercial slicers. Guy said under normal use we'd never dull the blade in our lifetime but if we did we could send it in to have the blade replaced. I have the paperwork around somewhere for it. Wonder if the guy I bought it from would still be around if I ever do need to replace the blade.

Cactus1 - do you have a pic or a link to this knife? Something doesn't sound 100% right. High carbon steel is probably the most common metal for decent knife blades and it's known for its ease of sharpening. I've been sharpening knives since Cub Scouts 35 years ago, and I've owned nearly 170 different knives - over 90% of these have been carbon steel.

They do lose their edge with use but they also sharpen up in a jiffy with very little effort. If that bow knife has a high carbon steel blade it would be something you could sharpen yourself with very little effort, so I don't know why the guy said it wouldn't dull or why he said he'd need to replace the blade if it did.

Unlike propane, you'll never wake up scorched and naked in another county because you mishandled a bag of briquettes.

Have to figure out the picture thing. New computer (2 1/2 months old) and Windows 8 is making me crazy. Seems every other time I turn it on it goes into update mode. Last Thursday it froze up in the middle of a Windows update and wouldn't do anything. I couldn't even power it off. Had to take it back to Best Buy. Geek Squad ran diagnostics and found nothing with hardware or no viruses but the system had corrupted. They finally had to set it back to Day 1 and I got it back on Tuesday night. Only thing I really lost was my Microsoft Office but was able to reinstall it.Found the little booklet I got with the bow knife. Don't see a link but it was hand made by Robert Linn in Edmond, OK. with an 800 phone #. He's the guy that I bought it from. Here's part of what my paperwork that I got with it says ... "The blade, made from high carbon steel, is a scalloped design that is double beveled. The blade is extremely thin, which is part of the reason that it cuts so well. The strength of the blade is a result of the tension applied to the blade when it is mounted on the wood bow saw. The back of the bow has about a quarter of an inch bow in it. This bow effect gives the blade a spring steel feel. Because the blades are made for commercial use, they have a very long life. The blades last at least two hundred hours of bread cutting before becoming dull." This is the same type of blade that is used in a commercial bread slicer. You're definitely not going to sharpen this blade like a regular knife. I have used it on breads, vegetables, and meats.

Guess Mr. Linn did not have a web site when I bought my knife. Did some looking this morning and here is the link to the one I have -www.appalachianbowsaw.comNoticed on his site that he makes no reference to slicing meats but part of the demo that he had set up included meats - think he had a piece of ham and a salami to slice. I have used mine as a meat slicer and it works great.

I bought 3 when I got mine and gave one to my sister and brother. Always kind of wished that I had another one and now that we've been talking about it and I found he has a web site, I just might order one or two more.